The Top 50 Underappreciated Commodore Amiga Games

[CodyJarrett]

This morning Den of Geek published an article that I wrote about the the top 50 underappreciated commodore Amiga games.

There were loads more games that I wanted to include. The full list is as follows:

50. Resolution 101 (1990)
49. Alcatraz (1992)
48. Conqueror (1990)
47. The Gold Of The Aztecs (1990)
46. Birds Of Prey (1991)
45. Citadel (1995)
44. Infestation (1990)
43. Cavitas (1992)
42. Midwinter II: Flames Of Freedom (1991)
41. Blob (1993)
40. Shadowlands (1992)
39. Storm Master (1992)
38. Statix (1994)
37. Apocalypse (1994)
36. RoboCop 3 (1992)
35. Pacific Islands (1992)
34. Fireforce (1992)
33. Deliverance (1992)
32. Cybercon III (1991)
31. Historyline 1914-1918 (1993)
30. Thunderhawk AH-73M (1991)
29. Escape From Colditz (1990)
28. Corporation (1990)
27. Sabre Team (1992)
26. Lamborghini American Challenge (1994)
25. The Lost Treasures Of Infocom (1992)
24. Bloodwych (1990)
23. Deuteros: The Next Millennium (1991)
22. Gem'X (1991)
21. Fly Harder (1993)
20. Flood (1990)
19. Damocles: Mercenary II (1990)
18. Virocop (1995)
17. Legend (1992)
16. Jetstrike (1993)
15. Nitro (1990)
14. Space Crusade (1992)
13. Supremacy (1990)
12. Ruff 'n' Tumble (1994)
11. Yo! Joe! (1993)
10. Paradroid 90 (1990)
9. King's Bounty (1991)
8. Banshee (1994)
7. Odyssey (1995)
6. Super Tennis Champs (1992)
5. Roadkill (1994)
4. Qwak (1993)
3. Dynablaster (1992)
2. No Second Prize (1992)
1. Stardust (1993)

[happymondays]

Thanks, there are quite some of my personal faourites on the list, like Bloodwych, Fireforce, Historyline, Qwak, Nitro... OK, I loved almost all of them, e.g. I played LAC yesterday, it is still great fun.

[Muzkat]

Lovely article Cody. Nice work.

[Gzegzolka]

Nice article , even if I never was in those top 10, top 100 lists type. I have never liked idea of searching for round amount of titles, it is like always something should be cut to fit or add to have full list.

[mintsauce82]

This is gold Jerry, gold!

Will give a few of these a try

edit - OK, right off the bat, No Second Prize is crazy! Very cool.

[Daedalus]

Birds of Prey is one of my favourites! Excellent flight sim, with a huge selection of planes to choose from, all with their own different handling characteristics and drawbacks. Played it to death with an analogue stick.

[Retro-Nerd]

Games like Banshee, Dynablaster or Ruff'n Tumble doesn't make sense on this list. They got good reviews and were very popular. Well at least in Germany.

[CodyJarrett]

Some of the games are underappreciated in different ways. Banshee and Ruff 'n' Tumble only appeared on the Amiga so might not be so familiar to fans of shooter and run & gun games.

[Minuous]

Link to page 2 doesn't work.

However through examination of page I have ascertained that it is http://www.denofgeek.com/games/commo...games/page/0/1

[ransom1122]

How ironic is #2

[Shatterhand]

Came across this article through Facebook, opened it up thinking I was going to see "hidden gems" like Turrican or Lemmings, but it actually had a few games I had never heard about, and many others that I've been trying for years to tell people how good they are (stuff like Fire Force, Gem'X or Lamborghini American Challenge).

It was a very good reading (and a very good list) indeed, I didn't know it was made by you.

-

I never understood why people call Fire Force an "updated Green Beret". Apart from the fact both games are military-themed and have a sideview, they have little in common. Fire Force is a much more complex type of game, and IMO is one of the most underrated Amiga games ever.

[Bastich]

Quite a few of my favourites there

50. Resolution 101 (1990)
31. Historyline 1914-1918 (1993)
30. Thunderhawk AH-73M (1991)
27. Sabre Team (1992)
20. Flood (1990)
15. Nitro (1990)
13. Supremacy (1990)
10. Paradroid 90 (1990)
5. Roadkill (1994)
3. Dynablaster (1992)
2. No Second Prize (1992)
1. Stardust (1993)

Always love these lists as it usually highlights a game I should try

[rare_j]

Really nice article, with loads of great titles I didn't know about that I'm gonna try out. Especially in the top 25.

[happymondays]

Originally Posted by Shatterhand

I never understood why people call Fire Force an "updated Green Beret". Apart from the fact both games are military-themed and have a sideview, they have little in common. Fire Force is a much more complex type of game, and IMO is one of the most underrated Amiga games ever.

Yes, Fire Force FTW. I don't really get it how the Amiga Joker reviewer could call it a 'sinnloses Blutvergiessen'.

[CodyJarrett]

The original influence on Fireforce was Green Beret but also Airborne Ranger so there is some Green Beret DNA in there.

In an Amiga Lore interview I asked one of the Fireforce developers, Steven Day, this question:

"Q: Was Green Beret an influence on Fireforce?"

"A: Yes, most definitely. But it became apparent quickly that the ST couldn't handle the volume of sprites required for that sort of game on top of the large screen scroll it would need like the c64 version."

I also asked this question:

"Q: Was Fireforce a sort of spiritual successor to Stormtrooper? There are some similarities in the two games, such as the general gameplay style and features like the dropping off of the protagonist from a helicopter/gunship."

"A: No, not at all. it was influenced initially by Green Beret and then later by Airborne Ranger. It would be more accurate to say that the start of Stormtrooper AND Fireforce were influenced by the massive amount of Vietnam films of the 80s."

[gimbal]

Never realized that Stardust did so poorly, I played the game till my fingers bled. It gave me that "Yeah the Amiga can still do really cool things" vibe because of the graphics and the music.

On the other hand it was a souped up Asteroids of course. You can rave about how the tunnel sequence looks, but gameplay wise it was my least favorite section of the game; the perspective did not make it really easy to see when you would be dodging or hitting something.

I never did really get into Fireforce. It was a cool gimmick that you could slice throats and needed a helicopter pickup, plus it had really cool sound effects, but it didn't really work for me as a sideways scroller. I don't know. Not enough happening on screen, not enough platforming I guess.

[rare_j]

Maybe you could write about the ones you wanted to include here instead? I'd be interested to see 50-100
For screenshots you could link to hol.

[DrBong]

@Adrian
Nice little round-up mate! I'm totally shocked that Cavitas was in there!!

28. Corporation (1990)
26. Lamborghini American Challenge (1994)
12. Ruff 'n' Tumble (1994)
8. Banshee (1994)
6. Super Tennis Champs (1992)
4. Qwak (1993)

Glad to see these games in there. As you said, there are lots of games that could have made the cut but didn't.

Off the top of my head, the ones that might've made the cut for mine include Fightin' Spirit, Unreal, Chip's Challenge, Pirates!/Pirates! Gold, Dojo Dan, Donk!, Arabian Nights, One on One, Fire & Ice, Genetic Species, International Tennis, Jim Power, Super Hang-On, Pinball Prelude, Wendetta 2175, Ruffian, Street Racer, Super Methane Bros and Phantom Fighter. Out of curiosity, did any of these make your shortlist?!

[CodyJarrett]

Here are fifty that I wanted to include:

Archer Maclean's Pool
Anarchy
Arcade Pool
B.C. Kid
Blade Warrior
Bob's Bad Day
Bubble and Squeak
Bug Bomber
Campaign
CarVup
Catch 'Em
Celtic Legends
Crazy Seasons
Doodlebug: Bug Bash 2
Dugger
Dune
F1
F-15 Strike Eagle II
Fire & Ice
Fire Power
Future Basketball
Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon
Impossible Mission 2025: The Special Edition
Jim Power
MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy
Morph
Mr DO! Run Run
Naughty Ones
Overkill
Projectyle
Realms
Rock 'n Roll
Second Samurai
Seek and Destroy
Shufflepuck Cafe
Simulcra
Skeleton Krew
Slam Tilt
Sorceror's Apprentice
Space Rogue
Spindizzy Worlds
Starglider 2
Tearaway Thomas
Tower of Babel
Ugh!
Walker
War Zone (Core)
Wings of Fury
Wizkid
Zarathrusta

[SquawkBox]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Games like Banshee, Dynablaster or Ruff'n Tumble doesn't make sense on this list. They got good reviews and were very popular.

I would say so too, even Qwak to some extend. Also, Marvin's Marvellous Adventure certainly should have made it to the aforementioned list, shouldn't it ? Truly amazing and very solid Amiga exclusive game that deserves way more recognition in my book, but yeah basically 50 is indeed a short list.